WHO WE ARE
Chabad Sunset Park is a new local "spiritual startup" aiming to create an inclusive and vibrant Jewish community within the Sunset Park and Greenwood Heights neighborhoods.
We are creating a welcoming community for all Jews, regardless of background, affiliation, prior knowledge or level of observance.
We host educational classes and discussions, holiday programs, Shabbat dinners and more.
Our programs are designed to make everyone feel engaged and comfortable. Our goal is to bring a sense of community and meaning in the lives of anyone who joins. We hope you join us and look forward to connecting with you soon!
Yanky Hecht
Rabbi & Director
Born and raised in Park Slope, Yanky spent his childhood and young adult life assisting his parents Rabbi Shimon and Sarah Hecht, the founders of Chabad of Brownstone Brooklyn.
Dedicated to strengthening Jewish identity and enhancing community life, Yanky has been involved in arranging Jewish outreach programs in countries across the globe, including Mexico, Spain, Belgium, Israel, and Italy. He also served as a mentor for Jewish teens in Los Angeles, California, and directed a Jewish Summer Experience in Israel.
Yanky likes playing guitar, hiking, and virtually any outdoor sport. Most of all, Yanky enjoys meeting new people and helping those who could use a hand.
In addition to directing Chabad of Sunset Park, Yanky serves as associate director of the Released Time Jewish Hour program, providing Jewish educational classes for children who attend Public Schools across NYC.
Yanky received his Rabbinical ordination at the Rabbinical Seminary of Los Angeles, California in 2019.
ABOUT CHABAD LUBAVITCH
The Philosophy
Chabad-Lubavitch is a philosophy, a movement, and an organization. It is considered to be the most dynamic force in Jewish life today.
The word “Chabad” is a Hebrew acronym for the three intellectual faculties of chochmah—wisdom, binah—comprehension and da’at—knowledge. The movement’s system of Jewish religious philosophy, teaches understanding and recognition of the Creator, the role and purpose of creation, and the importance and unique mission of each creature. This philosophy guides a person to refine and govern his or her every act and feeling through wisdom, comprehension and knowledge.
The word “Lubavitch” is the name of the town in White Russia where the movement was based for more than a century. Appropriately, the word Lubavitch in Russian means the “city of brotherly love.” The name Lubavitch conveys the essence of the responsibility and love engendered by the Chabad philosophy toward every single Jew.
The Movement
Following its inception 250 years ago, the Chabad-Lubavitch movement—a branch of Hasidism—swept through Russia and spread in surrounding countries as well. It provided scholars with answers that eluded them, and simple farmers with a love that had been denied them. Eventually the philosophy of Chabad-Lubavitch and its adherents reached almost every corner of the world and affected almost every facet of Jewish life.
The Leadership
The movement is guided by the teachings of its seven leaders (“Rebbes”), beginning with Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi of righteous memory (1745–1812). These leaders expounded upon the most refined and delicate aspects of Jewish mysticism, creating a corpus of study thousands of books strong. They personified the age-old Biblical qualities of piety and leadership. And they concerned themselves not only with Chabad-Lubavitch, but with the totality of Jewish life, spiritual and physical. No person or detail was too small or insignificant for their love and dedication.
In our generation, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of righteous memory (1902–1994), known simply as “the Rebbe,” guided post-holocaust Jewry to safety from the ravages of that devastation.
The Organization
The origins of today’s Chabad organization can be traced to the early 1940s, when the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of righteous memory (1880–1950), appointed his son-in-law and later successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, to head the newly founded educational and social service arms of the movement.
Today over 5,000 full-time emissary families (2,000 in the United States) direct more than 3,500 Jewish institutions dedicated to the welfare of the Jewish people worldwide.